Dispensers for dispensing liquid products, such as hand soaps are generally known. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/336,054 filed on Jan. 2, 2003. There are many types of dispensers, however, two common dispensers include a pump attached to a bottle, or a wall mounted dispenser. With a pump attached to a bottle, the product to be dispensed is located in the bottle (typically a plastic bottle) and a hand operated pump is attached to the bottle such that a user pushes on the top of the pump to dispense product out of the pump. With a wall mounted dispenser, the dispenser is operated by a user walking up to the dispenser and pushing a hand operated bar to dispense product.
These dispensers are often placed in locations where hand care is important, or where the likelihood of contacting microorganisms and other soils is high, for example in a public restroom or hospital facility. Over time, the surface that a user contacts to dispense product (i.e. the pump or the hand operated bar) becomes a source of germs and contaminants. Therefore, it is desirable to have a dispenser where operation of the dispenser is “hands free” so that a user does not have to touch the dispenser in order to dispense product.
It is against this background that the present invention has been made.